Prague is amazing!!!! Simply amazing!!!! Sensory overload!!! Every time we turn a corner there is another view more amazing than the last. We started the day walking on twisty little streets to the Old Town Square. This pretty little square is just a few steps from our hotel.
This is Old Town Square. First the Old Town Hall with the astrological clock. We weren't there to see it work (every hour) but we will before we leave.
Tyn Church - for 200 years it was the main Hussite Church, founded by Jan Hus - he was the Czech version of Martin Luther, rebelling against the Catholic Church. But unlike Luther, Hus was burned at the stake for his troubles. Still he did manage to found a Protestant movement, though this church is firmly back in Catholic hands. The interior photo is from the internet - they won't let you take photos inside anywhere here.
St. Nicholas Church.
Then we wandered over to the Jewish Quarter and toured the Jewish Museum, which is actually 6 different locations scattered over a few blocks. It follows the history of the Jews from the time they arrived in Eastern Europe until after the war. Most of the locations are synagogues. Some hold documents and precious religious items. You should have seen some of the tapestries, velvet with silver and gold thread embroidery, embellished with pearls and sequins. Wow. The most moving and disturbing part to me was the Pinkas Synagogue, whose walls are inscribed with 77,297 names of Czech Jews who perished in the Holocaust. Just about every inch of every wall is covered with names. When the communists took over they erased all the names. When the communists were sent home in 1989, the names were rewritten.
The other parts that were the most disturbing involved children. One exhibit showed photos of several children with their names, birthdates and death dates. All the death dates were 1944. There was a relocation camp near here - Terezin. People were sent there and later shipped to the death camps, although many people died there too from starvation, disease, bad conditions. The Nazis used this camp as propaganda to show the world how happy the Jews were in their new home. Of course what the Red Cross and the world saw was only what the Nazis wanted them to see. There was an exhibit of pictures drawn by children who lived in the camp.
This is the Jewish Cemetary. For 350 years, this was the only place in Prague where Jews were allowed to be buried. And Jews believe that once a body is buried it should not be moved. So they stacked them one on top of the other, so that the cemetary is a big mound of a burial ground. Each grave site might have multiple headstones, and as things settled the stones fell over. My guide book says 12,000 people were buried here, up to 12 layers deep!
Then we walked across the Charles Bridge, probably the most famous landmark in Prague. It's about 2 blocks from our hotel.
We walked to Lesser Town on the other side of the bridge and went into the Carmellite Church where the famous statue, the Infant of Prague, lives. Guidebook says it was a gift from Spain and that South Americans make pilgrimages to it. Armando had never heard of it - neither had I - though we are told that a copy of it is in our chapel at St. Francis. See how observant we are! The photo is of the front of the church.
All the sidewalks around the Old Town and Lesser Town are mosaics, and most of the streets are cobblestone. Here is a picture of one of the sidewalks outside the Jewish cemetary, but each sidewalk is different (think quilt patterns!!).
And here's a picture of Armando in front of our hotel room door. You would think the room was for little people. Actually the room ceiling is about 10', but the door is very small.
Tomorrow, Prague Castle!!
No comments:
Post a Comment